


I Don't Want To Understand

by cruisinforarubberman



Series: Bluepulse Week 17 [2]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bart is too pure for this time, Boyfriends, Justice for the POC, M/M, racial profiling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 19:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14479752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruisinforarubberman/pseuds/cruisinforarubberman
Summary: *set a couple years after S2 ended*Jaime Reyes was arrested. Not Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes. Despite Batman's efforts, Blue's team finds out and are dying to know what happened. The reason why is explained, and everyone is just glad it worked out. All except Bart, who doesn't get why his boyfriend was even arrested in the first place.Bart Allen did not come to the past for this particular race war, but he'll damn well fight in it.Written for BluepulseWeek17 over on tumblr, posted to my account of the same name. This fic is for Day 2: Pride.





	I Don't Want To Understand

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Edited so that the HTML works. Now it's written how I originally envisioned it.
> 
> My first controversial fic. And by that I mean one person on tumblr felt the need to talk to me about it. By the end of that conversation I realized that no attempt on my part to explain why I wrote this the way I did was going to be satisfying for them. I wrote this because, even though I myself am white, I feel like it's an issue that needs to be addressed more often. See the end notes for more details.
> 
> Bart is about 15 and Jaime is 18. And their relationship is PG at this point, so no one has to get concerned.

Of all the unintentionally annoying habits that Bart had when he was impatient, bored, or stressed, pacing was the quietest and least likely to annoy others. It was what he was doing right then up in the Watchtower, several other heroes of his and Jaime's age group around him waiting and feeling just as anxious. It had been a solid forty-five minutes since they were told what had happened, but there weren't any specific details that they'd been given. It was making Bart crazy.

He tugged on the hem of his baseball tee as he glanced again at the warp pad that would soon bring his Blue back to him. How was he expected to just stand there in his civvies and wait to find out why this had happened? At least the others had taken the earlier hint and had stopped trying to talk him out of his worry. Bart appreciated it, but it just hadn't worked. So now they waited, Bart the only one dressed casually because he had been called up at the last minute to avoid him running off to find Jaime.

It just...it wasn't like this kind of thing happened to them all the time. Especially not to his Blue, his Jaime. Jaime was too good for this kind of thing. What kind of idiot wou--

Bart's thoughts and his pacing came to a sudden halt as the warp pad lit up and two figures materialized into being. One clearly smaller than the shadow like being next to him. Batman and an armored up Blue Beetle stepped down to meet the others. Jaime looked fine, not even stiff or tense in any way.

Bart was instantly relieved at the sight of him.

Batman began to speak to the group around them. “The situation has been--”

“Blue!” Bart rushed over into Jaime's open arms, as usual a bit too casual in regards to the hold Batman had on other heroes. Jaime's arms had raised up to hold him the second he saw Bart standing there waiting for him, which was the second before the speedster had been in his arms. Bart's arms had slid beneath his so he could bring his hands up to rest on Jaime's back, specifically where the blue scarab rested. “You're okay!”

Jaime smiled slightly in response to the words muffled into his chest, squeezing Bart to him in a firm hug while his face and head armored down. “Hey, chiquito.” He whispered to his boyfriend as he affectionately nuzzled ruddy-brown hair.

“As I was saying,” Batman continued after giving the two an expressionless glance, “the situation has been dealt with. There will be no need for further action, from any of you.” He turned his gaze to Bart. “Am I clear?”

“Yeah.” Bart said lightly, relief still coloring his words as he continued to hold onto Blue as if he were about to vanish.

“Good. If, and I do mean if, Blue Beetle wants to elaborate on what has happened he's free to at any time. However, if he doesn't, don't pester him.” With that he turned back to the warp pad and stepped onto it again.

“Gracias. For everything, really.” Jaime said as he turned to look back at the Bat, Bart still in his arms.

He was given a nod and nothing else. “Robin, I expect you back at the Cave within the hour.”

“Yes, sir!”

With that, the warp pad activated and Batman was gone from the room. It was another two, possibly three, seconds before Jaime was asked several controlled but clearly curious and worried questions. Including one disbelieving comment of, “I still can't believe Blue knows Batman personally!”

Among them was Superboy. “What the heck happened, Blue?”

At this Bart even took a step back to glance at his boyfriend.

“I was arrested.” Came the simple reply.

“Yeah we know that part, but why?” Asked Beast Boy.

“And in your civilian identity, no less.” Miss Martian added.

With his arm still around Bart's waist, Jaime began walking further into the Watchtower, everyone following naturally until they reached a lounge of some sort. Once everybody settled in on the various pieces of furniture, Jaime finally answered the question.

But not without giving a slight roll of the eyes as he did so. “You know how it is. A teenage kid who isn't white driving a nice car in a nicer neighborhood? It was bound to happen.”

There was quiet after that comment. A few were shocked, others suddenly understanding and clearly displeased, and one or two confused faces. Bart's was one of them, looking up at his boyfriend from where the two stood side by side in front of the others with no hint of comprehension on his face.

Jaime hadn't noticed Bart, too distracted by the reactions of the others.

“Let me explain a little bit more. You see, my mom is an E.R. nurse. One of the doctors at the hospital where she works was having some serious car issues; he was leaking antifreeze and overheating, it was a big mess. Anyway my mom, being nice like she always is, offered to ask my dad, who's a mechanic, to take a look at it. My dad's auto shop has the best prices and service in our area, so Dr. Tanner accepted my parent's offer and Dad's been fixing the car for the last few days.

“When it was all done and ready to be returned, Dr. Tanner told my dad he was willing to pay extra if someone could drop the car off at his house. I was in the shop when my dad got the call so I offered to do it. 

“I should also point out that I've known Dr. Tanner my whole life, he and Mom have worked together for years, his son goes to my school and everything. So he knew that I was the one bringing the car over and he was happy about it. He always says I'm a good kid and stuff like that so he was sure I wasn't gonna mess around. I was gonna bring it straight to his house and then go home on my skateboard. No big deal.

“So I'm driving his car through his neighborhood, his house is just a block away from where I am, when all of a sudden I hear police sirens. I can see the lights in the rear view mirror so I pull over. I've never been pulled over before today but Dad taught me what I was supposed to do if I ever was, so I do exactly what he taught me. I kept my hands on the wheel until the officer came over and told me to lower the window, which I did. I gave him my license when he asked, but I didn't have registration for the car on hand because I don't own the car so why would I have that? The very next thing he does is ask who the car belongs to, and I fill him in on the story.

“I could see from the moment I started talking that he didn't believe a word I was saying, but I knew better than to talk back to a cop. Next thing I know, he's telling me to get out of the car. I mean yeah I wanted to protest but,” Jaime sighed, “that only would have made it worse. It got worse anyway...”

“What did they do to you?” Artemis asked, tensing as if she already knew the answer.

Jaime pulled Bart back against his side with one arm, as if he needed the affection right then. Bart was more than happy to hug him again. 

“I guess the officer's partner saw me roll my eyes when I got out 'cause the next thing I hear is, _'Knock of the attitude, punk.'_ So by that point I'm annoyed and offended but I put my hands up and was just waiting for them to run a plate check and call Dr. Tanner to confirm my story, but one of those jerks knocked me down with their nightstick and next thing I know I'm handcuffed in the back of their car and on the way to the police station. They messed up my shoulder a bit and royally pissed off Scarab. He's still not happy, by the way.”

_{No I am not, Jaime Reyes. You should have allowed me to vaporize them and eliminate their incompetent existences from the face of this planet.}_

“Hush.” Jaime said with a surprising amount of patience as he glanced backed at Khaji Da.

“Is your shoulder okay?” Wonder Girl asked.

“Oh yeah, Scarab fixed me up hours ago.”

“Hours ago?!” Bart asked with a bit of horror. “How long were you arrested?!”

“Bart I'm _fine_ , I promise. It just took a while for my parents to get down there because they both wanted to come get me and to do that they had to leave work. Dios, I still feel bad about it.”

“So once they got there and explained the officers let you go, right?” asked Batgirl with her arms crossed in annoyance.

“Well...” Jaime hesitated, fidgeting and looking away from the group. “Not exactly. I mean it's all kind of a blur for me. I know both my parents were yelling at the officers after a certain point, but I don't know exactly why. What I do remember is being brought out to the front desk after a while because Dr. Tanner himself came down to the police station.”

Jaime's voice brightened. “You guys should've seen it, it was awesome. He let them _have_ it, told them off for jumping the gun and arresting me prematurely without a lawyer present, _and_ for not double checking their facts. Told them all it would've taken was a quick phone call to sort everything out and they wouldn't have embarrassed themselves like they did. I swear they were so ashamed they couldn't even look at me as I walked out. They dropped all the charges!”

At that a cheer went up among the group of teen heroes. Even a bit of applause.

“Serves them right!”

“That's what they get for being bigoted jerks!”

“You go, Blue!”

“I'm glad they got put in their place!”

Robin came over a clapped Jaime on the shoulder. “So what did B do to help?”

“He just wanted to make sure that they didn't secretly sneak anything onto my record, and he said that he made sure our complaints got through to their supervisor and even the Mayor of El Paso.”

Happy and cheerful chatter began to fill the lounge. It seemed as if everyone was glad that the situation worked itself out and that Blue wasn't going to be in any further trouble. There was even talk of a celebration of some kind.

That is, until a voice broke through. “Wait...wait... ** _hey_**!”

Silence descended after Bart's exclamation rang out. Everyone could see that he had wormed his way out from under Jaime's arm, because he was now standing to the side of his boyfriend and looking up at him with utter confusion on his face.

“Chiquito?” Jaime asked, his brows furrowing.

“I don't get it.” Bart said, “You're all acting like something good happened but I just _don't_ understand. _Why_ were you arrested?”

It was silent yet again as they all stood looking between Bart and Jaime, only now it was far more tense then it had been at any point before this. The two boyfriends were only looking at each other.

“Bart...I'm Mexican-American.”

The speedster's face took on a slight look of annoyance, clearly not happy that Jaime thought he was so dense that he wouldn't remember or know something as obvious as that.

Jaime continued before Bart could respond. “The officers that arrested me were both white, Caucasian. They were both older guys, too.” He explained.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Bart asked, clearly still confused.

“You...oh. Oh, Bart...amorcito.” Jaime's face suddenly looked so sad. Which in turn made Bart feel sad, too. “Baby...listen, you...you wouldn't know about this kind of thing because...”

Jaime didn't have to elaborate on that thought, they all knew that Bart came from a very different future with very different rules. With that realization sinking in so many of them turned sympathetic faces onto the still so young speedster.

Jaime sighed. He reached out to grasp Bart's hands in his own, Bart allowing Jaime to pull him closer. “Bart, a few decades ago there were laws put into place. Laws that let people of any color have all the same rights as white people. Before those laws...people like me and my family were treated unfairly. Very, unfairly.”

Bart's brow furrowed. “But there are laws against that kind of thing now, right? They don't do things like that anymore?”

“They're not supposed to, but some still do...”

“That...that's horrible!”

“I know.”

“S-So you're saying that the only reason they pulled you over, the only reason they arrested you, was because you were a different color than them?!”

“A different color, a different race, but yes. It's called racial profiling. Police officers have been known to do that kind of thing a lot.”

“ _Why?!_ Why would they do that?! What makes them think it's okay to treat you like some kind of criminal just because you're skin is darker than mine?!”

“I-I don't know why, Bart. I guess they just think that white people are better than people that are different from them.”

“That's not true! Thinking like that is-is so... _moded!_ ”

“I know, I know.” Jaime tugged Bart into an embrace. “I know.”

For a few moments Bart stood tense and shocked in Jaime's arms before melting against his chest. He only reached up to grip Jaime's waist when he felt a hand softly stroking through his hair.

“...it isn't _fair_. They don't even know you or how great you are or everything you do to keep them and the whole world safe...”

Jaime could only close his eyes and focus on the feeling of holding the boy he loved as close to him as he could. “I'm sorry, chiquito. I'm sorry you ever had to find out about this. I'm sorry that this kind of thing still exists after everything the world's already been through. Is there anything else you need me to explain...? Anything else you need to understand?”

Bart shook his head hard, though he still remained pressed to Jaime's chest as he quietly spoke. “I don't understand it. I don't _want_ to understand it. I don't _ever_ want to 'understand' it. No one should. It's moded. It's awful. I didn't come back so that I could watch people treat each other like this. We gotta fix it, Blue. We _have_ to.”

He sounded so sad, so heartbroken. It made Beast Boy walk over and pat at Bart's back. It made the others gently chime in with assurances like “it'll be okay” and “we'll find a way to change their minds” and “not everyone is like that, at least”. They echoed Bart's feelings, wanting what he wanted; to make people realize that they all were equal, even to the heroes that they idolized.

Jaime's heart broke a little bit from knowing Bart's pain. Yet...yet he felt something. Something deep inside that grew stronger from hearing Bart's words.

_{Jaime Reyes, my scans indicate that the emotion you are experiencing is what you Earthlings refer to as 'pride'.}_

Pride. Yes, that was it. Jaime was proud of Bart. He was proud that coming into the past and being surrounded by this world and it's ideals hadn't changed who the speedster was. Proud that Bart was so offended by the people corrupting his new world that he felt the need to do something to change it. Bart would do it too, Jaime knew that without a doubt in his mind.

Jaime was so, _so_ proud.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I decided to write about this kinda topic. I wish I knew more facts and figures and stuff, but honestly I'm glad I know anything. Being raised in a small, mainly white populated, town means this subject already isn't brought up enough. Which is why I understand Bart's...naivety? That's not the right word for it. Just take my word that being white means that the issues of POC aren't always brought to our attention, so I don't think it's impossible for Bart not to come face to face with racial issues until this happened to Jaime. Doesn't mean he didn't care until now, just that he didn't know until now. Plus I just personally want to believe that in a world with giant robots running loose and people who can fly, the people of this world are slightly more progressed than IRL and don't have as many racial issues, meaning it isn't as rampant. Wishful thinking, I know.
> 
> As for how Jaime acted toward the police officers (i.e. rolling his eyes) I have only a few things to say.
> 
> 1.) He's still a teen and sometimes teenagers do things they shouldn't even when they know better. Plainly said; sometimes teens do stupid things.
> 
> 2.) He didn't believe he was in danger. Jaime to me seems like the type to assume better of people, so he didn't think they'd actually go that far. He might've just thought it was the policy of the whole police department to be, you know...racist, which makes it a bigger issue and placing all the blame on those two officers wouldn't effect his immediate situation. Also, he's a hero, the Blue Beetle. If his life had actually been threatened (like one of the officers tried to actually shoot him in the back) he had Khaji Da there to armor him up if he really needed it. Yeah that would've revealed his secret identity, but when the options are that or possible death I think we know which he would've picked.
> 
> 3.) When I wrote Jaime saying that he rolled his eyes, I didn't explain that he did so in a subtle "wow so this is actually happening" kind of way. He didn't do that whole "rolling his entire head and scoffing and making comments" kinda way. He didn't think he'd be seen doing it otherwise he wouldn't have done it. And to be honest I wrote those officers looking for any excuse to unlawfully detain him.
> 
> And finally, as for Batman handling the situation like he did (bringing Blue to the watchtower to tell everyone what happened) just trust me when I say this fic was originally a lot longer in my head. One of the things left out was how Batman found out about Jaime's arrest, told Robin, and went to go help however he could. Robin told one of the team who told someone else on the team who told others and the info unintentionally spread like crazy. Everyone was worried and so Batman had to call an official meet-up in order to calm everyone down, even though he would've rather not do that. That's also when Bart was told about the situation and quickly zipped up to the tower to join in on the waiting. Batman met up with Jaime at his house after his parents brought him home and informed him about how he helped to ensure that Jaime's record would stay clean and their complaints got pushed along and so forth. When Jaime found out everyone was worried, HE wanted to go up and tell them that he was okay.
> 
> If there are anymore questions feel free to leave a comment and I'll answer as best I can.


End file.
